Virginia Beach merged with Princess Anne County and that county "disappeared" on January 1, 1963. It was a uniquely rural "city" at the time, and city government still has a Department of Agriculture.1

In the 1880's, the Norfolk, Virginia Beach Railroad and Improvement Company decided to create a resort on the Atlantic cean shoreline of Princess Anne County. The resrt developer constructed the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Southern Railroad, a narrow gauge line to carry tourists across the county from the steamship docks at Norfolk to the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.2

What is today the oceanfront resort area was originally known as Seatack. It gained that name after the British Navy shelled the area in the War of 1812. At the time, the area was occupied by free blacks who hunted, fished, and farmed the sandy soils.

The middle of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline on the eastern edge of Princess Anne County was known as Seatack when the life saving station was built there in 1878. It kept that designation until the Virginia Beach Hotel was built in 1883. Afterwards, the resort area was called Virginia Beach and Seatack referred to just the inland area occupied primarily by African-American farmers.3

The Seatack community is gradually disappearing. It is located east of Naval Air Station Oceana, in an area which is at risk if a fighter plane crashes. In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission proposed closing Oceana because of suburban encroachment at the edges. To keep the second-largest employer in Virginia Beach, the city agreed to alter its zoning process. In Seatack, the city is approving new commercial buildings such as storage units for household goods rather than new houses.4

In addition to the military, tourism is another other key part of the city's economy.

The Forbes Salt-Water Taffy store on 17th Street and Atlantic Avenue claims to be the oldest retail outlet on the strip, selling the production from for the oldest manufacturing operation in the city. The retail outlet started in 1933.

The iconic Virginia Beach Fishing Pier was built in 1950, then repaired after the Ash Wednesday storm in 1962, Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The pier is a private facility with a franchise license issued by the city.5

The shoreline has shifted in the past as well. In 1607 when the English first landed at what they named Cape Henry, the northeastern tip of Virginia may have been cut off from the rest of the city by an inlet connecting the Atlantic Ocean to Lynnhaven River. Today, Crystal Lake remains linked to Lynnhaven River thanks to dredging of Rainey Gut on the southwestern edge of First Landing State Park, but storms have moved the sand and closed the inlet on the ocean side connecting Crystal Lake to the Atlantic Ocean.6

The highest point in Virginia Beach is the top of the former landfill, Mount Trashmore. The city indicates it is 60-65 feet tall.7

the tip of Virginia Beach with First Landing State Park and Fort Story may have been an island in 1607, with an inlet (now closed) connecting Crystal Lake to the Atlantic Ocean
Source: ESRI, ArchGIS Online

Seaside Park, started in 1906, became know as the Virginia Beach Casino prior to the United States entry into World War I
Source: Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection, Casino at 15th St., Virginia Beach, Va

one of three proposed routes for light rail extension in Virginia Beach would reach Town Center, but not the Oceanfront
Source: Virginia Beach City Council Update, Virginia Beach Transit Extension Study (January 14, 2014)

two other proposed routes for light rail extension in Virginia Beach would reach the Oceanfront, by different routes
Source: Virginia Beach City Council Update, Virginia Beach Transit Extension Study (January 14, 2014)

the United States Life Saving Service used breeches buoys to rescue shipwrecked sailors and passengers
Source: Cooper Hewitt Museum, print by Winslow Homer, 1889

the upstream end of West Neck Creek has been channelized to create dry land and manage flooding risk
Source: GoogleMaps

Virginia Beach is projected to lose more population in the 20 years between 2020 and 2040 (dropping from 438,114 people in 2020 to 419,103 people in 2040) than any other city or county in Virginia
Source: University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center, Virginia Population Projections - Locality, Total Population